The present invention relates to electronic data processing, and more specifically concerns systems and methods for on-line resolution of problems in a customer system by a remote central service system.
Servicing midrange and mainframe data-processing systems is a major segment of the data-processing industry. A manufacturer may employ as many people for repair and service as for sales or for development of new systems. Servicing requires extensive networks of service representatives, parts inventories, software, and physical facilities. Ironically, the servicing of data-processing systems relies heavily on human labor and mental effort.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,654,852 to A. M. Bentley et al. proposes one step toward more automated repair of data-processing systems. That patent allows an operator to run problem-determination procedures (PDPs) stored in the system itself. The PDPs can themselves determine which components are present in the system and run tests against them, using the results of previous tests to determine which PDPs to run next. These PDPs can also request the operator to perform actions, such as setting controls, disconnecting cables, and restarting programs. The PDPs propose problem solutions as messages to the operator recommending that certain actions be taken, or that certain service representatives be summoned.
A centralized service data-processing system has also been established, for example, the IBM "RETAIN" network has been available for many years. A customer can telephone the nation-wide facility and relate a problem on his system to a service representative, either a customer engineer (CE) or product support staff. The representative attempts to diagnose the problem by asking the customer what symptoms his system experiences, and what hardware and software components are present on the system. As the customer answers these questions, the service rep enters certain key words into a terminal. When he is satisfied that he has sufficiently characterized the problem, the rep accesses one or more problem-management data bases (PMDBs) stored in the central system, using the key words as search arguments. Each entry in the data base has one or more key words and descriptions of proposed solutions for problems involving those key words.
These solutions are of three general types: instructions to perform some action with respect to the customer system, a list of possibly failing hardware components to be replaced, and a list of possibly failing software components for which program temporary fixes (PTFs) exist. Microcode fixes (MCFs) are frequently considered to be hardware, but may for the present purpose be grouped in a common category with software PTFs. The representative reads the entries matching the particular key words he has entered, and may schedule a service call by a customer engineer; he may also order out the necessary hardware and software components for the CE to take with him.